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Speedy Gonzales (1955 short)
Speedy Gonzales is a 1955 Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng from a story by Warren Foster. It is the second cartoon to feature the title character, but the first one to feature Speedy in his current design. It won the Oscar as Best Animated Short of 1955. Storyline The film-short opens on a small, white-shirted, worried group of mice wearing sombreros thinking of how to get cheese from the AJAX cheese factory across the Mexican-American border that is guarded by Sylvester the Cat. The accumulating collection of sombreros a few steps down the wire fence indicates Sylvester has neatly disposed of any mouse that tried. The leader comes up with a brilliant idea: retain the services of the aptly named Speedy Gonzales. The group agrees, so the leader goes to the carnival where Speedy resides. Speedy Gonzales is at the carnival attraction "Shoot Speedy" in which people try to shoot Speedy in order to "win a beeg prize." The leader tells Speedy, in Spanish, about the dire situation the mice are in, not having access to the cheese guarded by Sylvester. Speedy agrees. Speedy runs through the wire field between the mice and Sylvester shaking his legs as he yells ''"¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!," ''and runs past Sylvester, enters the cheese factory and brings back a round of cheese. Sylvester then throws a baseball at the AJAX cheese factory, but it turns out Speedy is inside the baseball, and therefore able to get even more cheese from Sylvester to the mice. Sylvester then tries using landmines and mousetraps, to no avail. Finally, Sylvester gets fed up with Speedy's agility and evasive maneuvers and, having overheard Speedy's dare to grab the entire remaining haul, gets all the cheese from the factory and stacks them up (speaking his only line in the short). Sylvester uses a bomb to blow up all the cheese but the cheese boxes only explode, and much of the cheese lands where the mice are, causing Sylvester to cry and bang his head on an electric pole. Speedy then says "I like thees pussycat fellow; he's seelly!" and the short ends. Gallery Availability *VHS - A Salute To Friz Freleng (unrestored) *DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc 4, #8 *Blu-Ray/DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc Two Trivia Category:Speedy Gonzales shorts Category:Sylvester Shorts Category:Merrie Melodies shorts Category:1955 shorts Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:1955 films Category:Animated shorts Category:Shorts Category:Best Short Academy Award winners Category:Speedy Gonzales Category:Sylvester Category:Merrie Melodies Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:1955 Category:1950s shorts Category:1950s films Category:1950s Category:Vitaphone short films Category:Oscar Award winners Category:Oscar winners Category:Best Short Oscar Award winners Category:Animated by Gerry Chiniquy Category:Animation by Gerry Chiniquy Category:Cartoons animated by Gerry Chiniquy Category:Animated by Ted Bonnicksen Category:Animated by Arthur Davis Category:Animation by Arthur Davis Category:Cartoons animated by Arthur Davis Category:Story by Warren Foster Category:Written by Warren Foster Category:Cartoons written by Warren Foster Category:Directed by Friz Freleng Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng Category:Written and Directed by Friz Freleng Category:Layouts by Hawley Pratt Category:Cartoon layouts by Hawley Pratt Category:Backgrounds by Irv Wyner Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Irv Wyner Category:Cartoon backgrounds by Irv Wyner Category:Voice Characterizations by Mel Blanc Category:Voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Voices by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with voices by Mel Blanc Category:Music by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl Stalling Category:Cartoons with music by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons orchestrated by Milt Franklyn Category:Produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Voiced by Stan Freberg Category:Voice Characterizations by Stan Freberg Category:Voices by Stan Freberg Category:Cartoons with voices by Stan Freberg Category:Film Editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Sound Effects by Treg Brown